Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse — Restaurant in El Segundo

I'll start with the positives, we were greeted by friendly staff, seated - first offered the worst table (at 6pm, it wasn't packed yet) right by the front door and where people spooled up to wait in line, we asked for another table and the nice gentleman happily checked and moved us one table more in the restaurant, nice and accommodating. Then our server was nice, bright and cheery, sweet and friendly ... started off with a pair of margaritas, which were very good - we upgraded to Patron Repo, good margs. Off to the salad bar, I guess it was "good", a lot of stuff and ... no complaints, we couldn't find any simple oil and vinegar as dressing choices, which is odd, so I had their pre-mix Italian, which was fine. Where I might go with this is, it's good, kind of attractive, big, just not as well taken care of as I might like, but ... truthfully, with so many guests, I'm sure the do the best they can. The meat: The punchline, pretty much a C+ ... not bad, not great, some tough and super salty, some really good. The highlights, the tenderloin was delicious ... the pork rib was very tasty ... old school pork rib, not like a baby back, it was very good. Oddly, those 2 choices, especially the tenderloin, possibly the more expensive of most cuts, were mostly no where to be found throughout the night, we had to ask for that and the pork rib ... I imagine the tenderloin gaucho is trained not to be around to often to keep the meat cost of "the good stuff" a bit hidden so people fill up on the lower quality cuts - but it was very good, (the teeny weenie piece we got) - and yes he would have given us more if we asked, we should have only had him come by. If you do go, know that and ask for it. Most of the other meats were pretty salty or not so tender, not bad, just not great. The sausage to both of us, not great. The chicken to us, not great - kind of weird tasting actually. Sadly, we felt so wasteful, as 80% of the meat we were served, we took one bite of and put in on the "discard" plate, life''s too short to me to eat bad or chewy meat. We could have fed another 2 couples with the amount of meat we discarded - forgive me father. The "Gaucho's" serving the meat were all very nice, they were a bit hard to understand as they said what they had really quick, I guess they are used to serving a lot of folks fast, but they were all super nice and were happy to repeat themselves if we asked. Again, being very fair and complimentary, lots of servers and managers and folks checked on us, were all VERY nice, always asking to replace plates, can they help - 100% great on people, service, drinks. Good work to the team. Ultimately, we had an OK to mediocre meal, not bad, not great. I think the niche is folks that really want to eat a LOT of meat ... our bill with 2 people, 2 cocktails each, no extra apps or other add ons - with a 20% well deserved tip was about $250. Expensive, but very much in line with any good restaurant, and maybe that's where I have the rub. I am very happy to spend that for a great dinner. But comparatively, and I don't think most folks that go there think of this, but for that exact amount of money, you can go to some of the best streak houses in LA, or even Beverly Hills, and some great ones right in that very area near Fogo, order a spectacular steak of the very highest quality, have servers that are used to treating you like royalty, and providing a very relaxed and "holy cow" !!!! experience, vs. kind of an all you an eat hotel or cruise ship mass market experience. In summary, thanks to all the nice people who greeted and served us so well, A+ to the PEOPLE! But at the end of the night, we both 100% agreed we should have spent the same money and had an amazing luxurious meal and a very high end experience at an incredible steak house eating a prime aged - amazing steak. If QUANTITY and fun and C+ meat is ok with you, you'll love it, but if you want to experience truly amazing steak and atmosphere for the same price ... you know where we'd...

This place was such a letdown: 2/5

TLDR: Fogo leaves much to be desired in terms of service and food options. If you like your meats well done in terms of temperature and low sodium, this is the place for you.

I had been wanting to visit fogo for quite some time now as I've heard so many good things over the years.

Service: For starters, the service was terrible. I came with a group of 10, and we weren't assigned a server. It was set up so that everyone who was not serving you meat was someone who could refill your drink, etc. Well, the only people who came to our table were meat servers. Water was never refilled to the point of the birthday boy grabbing a pitcher of water at a server station behind us to refill my drink. The only people who regularly came to our table were the meat servers and they were working hard to hit every table, but the arrangement was not very well thought out because there was nowhere for the meat servers to place their tray/cutting board which led to us all having to lean into each other to provide them space whenever they came by. They were so rushed that I literally never got a chicken leg because the guy would pop in along with another server at our table and pop out. It felt like an snl skit 🤣

Food: They immediately brought out different meats, which was great, but they were all bland and overcooked. Everything needed salt to me, but that is personal preference. The picahna, which is usually the star of the show, was only ok. A server came around with a giant hunk of flank steak, calling it ribeye, which it clearly was not. Also, very overcooked. The best thing here was the lamb and the beef rib, others at the table really enjoyed the pork bellyas well, but I did not care for the high fat content and prefer my pork belly more balanced. Still perfectly cooked. If you prefer your meat well done, then you will more than likely enjoy this place. Also, the buffet was interesting. There were many unique cold options, but when it came to hot options, there were black beans and rice and a squash soup. The soup wasn't bad. I expected a few more hot options though, usually when I visit a churrascaria, they also have things like chicken stroganoff and cheesy mashed potatoes, but not here.

Atmosphere: The vibe is very upscale. From the tablecloths to the silverware. The lighting was very warm and bright as well.

Overall: I would not come back for the poor service nor the underwhelming cuisine. I'd maybe recommend if you prefer your meat well done...

I recently dined at Fogo de Chao in El Segundo, California, and while the service had some standout moments, the overall experience was mixed.

Starting with the positives, Pedro, one of the first meat servers we interacted with, did a great job. However, the real star was Igor. His attentiveness and commitment to ensuring that everything met the standard of excellence were commendable. He stayed on top of the team in the back, making sure the food was prepared to our expectations.

Rebecca, one of our servers, was excellent from start to finish. She was responsive, engaged, and made sure our dining experience was smooth. Unfortunately, Ryan, our other server, didn't meet the same standard. He was more hands-off and only seemed to engage when we showed interest in purchasing additional items. While Ryan wasn't a good fit for our table, Rebecca quickly took over and improved the situation significantly.

There was also a floating bartender who maintained positive energy throughout the evening and even offered assistance when we couldn't locate Ryan. Maria, the customer service manager, did an excellent job of addressing our requests, and Nick, one of the chefs, impressed us with his skills in preparing some special items.

However, the food quality did not live up to the standards I've experienced at other Fogo de Chao locations. The service was notably slow, and the check-in experience was disappointing. When I commented on the small size of the location, the receptionist responded by comparing it to a Denny’s, which was both perplexing and unprofessional.

One of the most disappointing aspects of the evening was the inconsistency in the beef rib. The first serving was tender and flavorful, but subsequent servings were tough and lacked the same quality. When we inquired about this, a server informed us that there was no way to ensure consistency, which contradicts the high standards I’ve come to expect from Fogo de Chao.

In summary, while the service, particularly from Igor, Rebecca, Maria, Pedro and Nick, had its highlights, the food quality and overall experience fell short. There is definitely room for improvement, especially in maintaining the consistency and quality that Fogo de Chao...